Tulipa praestans Fusilier

Tulipa praestans 'Fusilier' boasts a fabulous contrast and perfect colour harmony between its large scarlet corollas and its beautiful emerald green foliage. It produces multiple flowers per stem, ensuring generous flowering in spring. It guarantees a superb effect when planted en masse, or in groups of a dozen or more. It is easy to grow and often naturalises in most gardens, blooming tirelessly year after year.

Tulipa praestans 'Fusilier' belongs to the Liliaceae family. The species T. praestans is native to Central Asia, where it grows at high altitudes on slopes and rocky scree, up to the open forests of southern Pamir Alai. It has given rise to many cultivars, including the highly appreciated 'Fusilier'. This medium-sized tulip will not exceed 35 to 40cm (14 to 16in) in height when in bloom. Its foliage is green to glaucous, quite wide and opulent. The flowers appear in March-April, gathered in groups of 4 to 6 on the same stem. They are pure and very bright red. They open widely in a star shape with a diameter of 10 to 12cm (4 to 5in), revealing a heart with shades of bright orange. They bloom in the sun and close when it hides. This tulip naturalises easily by producing bulblets, in light and well-drained soil.

Botanical tulips do not degenerate over time like large-flowered tulips. They naturalise and can remain in place for several years without special maintenance, thriving in borders and rock gardens. To create colourful scenes, they can be combined with various small bulb plants: crocus, muscari, Cyclamen coum, snowdrops, and scillas, for example. These tulips bring the colour of spring to pots or sunny gardens.

There are various wild species, many of which are endangered. In cultivation, they are called "botanical tulips", and one of the most common is the wild tulip (Tulipa sylvestris), which used to often grow in the shelter of vineyards and whose subspecies, australis, is known as the southern tulip.